Geoffrey Klepeis Artist Biography

Geoffrey Klepeis

  

Geoffrey Klepeis is a fine artist who has been formally trained at the ACAD drawing department. During the summers he attended a classical contemporary atelier, Studio Escalier. Located In Argenton-Les-Vallees, France, the curriculum specialised in intensive life drawing and painting from the model. This is where much of his classical understanding was developped.

Geoffrey believes that anyone is capable of creating fine representational art work. It is however necessary to seek out adequate guidance and teaching in order to maximize learning, by developping an understanding of the theories and techniques used to make effortless, living representations of the human body. There are no tricks used to represent the beauty of the human form. A true understanding of its grace and stucture is the strategy used to achieve a genuine empathy for this subject matter.

With Gentle, insightful guidance, Geoffrey can help unleash the full potential of artists of any skill level. With a more intuitive, practical and organic approach, students who study with this artist will begin to feel their work come to life in a way they never experienced before, as well as develop a skill  that will aide in the process of self-critique and personal achievment.

 
Artist Statement

My name is Geoffrey Klepeis and I am a formally trained fine artist. In my education and in my practice I have pursued classical techniques in the field of figure drawing and painting. I received my BFA in drawing at ACAD. The training was dominantly of a conceptually nature, and led me to pursue other routes to feed my desires for traditional draughtsmanship abilities. This search led me to a studio in France, Studio Escalier. I attended their summer intensive programs while I attended ACAD the rest of the year. At Studio Escalier I have learned the passed down traditions of great masters, which is now known as the classical contemporary school of thought. This is a way of thinking towards representation art that is built on the intellect, skill and passion passed down by masters and apprentices since Michelangelo. This progress can be seen in the following chart, which was created by my teacher Timothy Stotz. Both of my teachers at Studio Escalier were the students of Ted Seth Jacobs, who finds himself at the bottom of this chart:

 

The techniques I have trained with are of an intuitive nature. No tricks are gimmicks are used to observe or “measure” the figure. Instead of method of “seeing” and understanding the nature of the human form is used. These empowering ideas allow the artist to bypass their own symbolic biases to truly reveal the beauty of the subject for they are beholding. Through studying the figure, all forms of representation art will be reinforced as well, be it figure drawing, still life, landscape, illustration etc....These techniques are truly of value to the modern artist in search of strong painting and drawing skills.

In my classes and workshops I will rely mostly on demos and one on one critique. This will help each individual overcome obstacles in their own work, and progress to greater levels of understanding of the human form and the effects of light.